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28 January 2010

I've had a lovely break. The trusty husky had some time off and, aside from a tiny bit of hand stitching and some applique for a delivery for the Wilderness Society shop last week, I've not done a thing since Christmas that resembled anything crafty. Creative energies have been focused on food, as described in earlier posts. Now that's under control and life is getting back to some sense of normal, I'm feeling that creative niggle return. Hooray!! Its like an old friend - not some part of my brain sent to torment me for all the things I can't do. I'm feeling refreshed and ready to roll up my sleeves... So I'm really glad that Kirsty's Creative Space is back, just in time. Can't wait so see what everyone's been up to...

I'm finding it a little odd, but I'm hankering to work with wool. A little knitting and planning some needle felting for the owlets - mermaids have been ordered!! I also have some ideas simmering for Autumn and Winter with these woven wools I've had for a little while. Popsicle (aka. my father in law) found the check fabric at the bottom of the pile on one of his garage sale trawls - bless! I'm thinking pants. I'm hoping to add more unisex and boyish things to the owlet shop this year because I often have requests. Why is it that boys are so often overlooked?

On Christmas night I decided I'd had enough. Half a pav will do that... So we began eating the last of the sugar and white flour products in the house. By new years eve, it was all gone and so we began the year without refined cane sugar.... We'll there is a little in the jam we've been making while I've been experimenting with sugar-free recipes... but that's it. For anyone who knows us in real life, you know this is a big challenge for some of us, particularly a sweet-toothed man who ate a packet of lollies and half a block of chocolate most days.I may or may not have been responsible for the other half. It was usually a blur. Something we did without thinking, usually when we were tired... that happens lots round here. We grew up drinking cordial and juice... so that's what we drank, aside from the tea which had 3 teaspoons of sugar on a bad day... those happened a lot too. Oh and we baked quite a bit. Cakes, biscuits, muffins... all yum and organic and fresh, but filled with sugar. Not great for any of us.

So we have worked on changing our palettes. We bought a small countertop water filter with cups beside it for the owlets to help themselves when they feel thirsty. It worked. Now they love water!! Juice is freshly squeezed.. no longer bought. It took one week for that change to happen - amazing!! I'm also noticing that we need LOTS of snacks, particularly for big owlet and Huz to get through the 3pm slump at work. Still working on that one, but nuts, popcorn and bananas have helped. Dessert is often a mango or some blueberries, or something drizzled with maple syrup or honey... Like the creation in the photo. Strawberries and whipped cream, with a drizzle of maple syrup - delicious! Or maple syrup and vanilla ice-cream - yum!! Oh and you can make the most delicious biscuits with just wholemeal flour, butter and honey - who knew?!! We are striving to make sure all foods we consume are whole foods - and we all feel SO much better for it. Big owlets tummy pains and weird skin have gone, dark circles and all. Our palettes are changing and we are noticing if things are too sweet, which is really quite a shock when you think about what we consumed before. There's no plan to stick to this for any period of time, just a 'lets see how this goes' kind of thing, but now it is becoming normal so I suppose we just continue along, hey?

27 January 2010

One sunny day last week, the owlets and I wandered home from the playground past an old tree dripping with tiny plums... We filled a hat and nibbled them along the way. An hour later Huz walked in from a day in the bush. "Guess what I found?" He said as he lowered 5kg of plums onto the counter... then showed us his hat-full of yellow plums... and the kg of cherries he bought....

So guess what I've been up to?

ETA- just for you, C... My usual recipe is - heat fruit until the juices start to bubble out a bit, add half the weight of the fruit in sugar (so 2 parts fruit to 1 part sugar - most recipes call for equal parts, but we haven't needed it that sweet). If I'm making berry or apricot jam I add a lemon, cut in half. I squeeze it a bit before I throw it in the pot. If its plums, no need for lemon, it sets on its own just fine. Bubble away until a blob dropped on a cold saucer doesn't run but forms a skin when tipped, or if I run a fingernail through the middle of it, the little gap stays there. Fish out the lemon and bottle in sterilised jars.

25 January 2010

Well, I know its Monday, but we're luxuriating here with a four day weekend. Bliss!! We've had perfect conditions for garage sailing of late and managed to find a number of things we'd been needing... and otherwise...

19 January 2010

I've been very quiet, I know. We've had a couple of weeks full of visitors and house guests bringing loads of love and laughter. First a visit from my Mum who had a well deserved holiday with us... It was so lovely to spend time with her... Then a visit from some lovely friends we host on their annual visits to these parts. A full house, lots of fun and lots of happy memories... now to work on smuggling my sister over for a visit....So what have we been up to? A little reading, a little swimming, a little dancing, a little wandering, a little cooking... We are lucky to have three or four beautiful, wild beaches at our doorstep, so there have been plenty of beach visits. I even mustered the courage to take a dip in Tasmanian waters! Refreshing would be an understatement!!

An owlet lost a tooth in amongst it all! Much to her delight...

We've been looking lots at all things related to water this summer and spending time just breathing it all in...

So this week feels like we are back to reality. No more expected guests, just lots of things to begin. We're booking classes and getting organised for our unschooling year. We've been living without sugar since the new year and feeling better for it. Lots of new recipes learned... I'm working out a little plan for my crafty business this year too... and feeling the creative urge return!

11 January 2010

A wander around the garden after the owlets are asleep... a cool breeze on a warm night, the smell of water on soil as the garden breathes a sigh of relief, as do I after a long, hot, busy day... and finally getting to the ripe apricots first...

10 January 2010

So my laptop is on its last legs... it seems my days of nomadic blogging are numbered... We found ourselves looking at shiny new imacs and managed to leave the shop with one tucked under Huz's arm and a maxed out credit card in my wallet... and so we have entered the world of mac and we like it. Unfortunately, as demonstrated in the pic, there's not much room for mama amid all the fun... hence the lack of posts of late... so I'm waiting for the novelty to wear off.

3 January 2010

Picking flowers, fruity juice dribbling down arms and chins, warm skin, sandy toes, sleeping under sheets... We're loving this summer so much. the garden is giving us food for meals most days, if we can beat the owlets to it!! Huz is back to work tomorrow and we have resolved, as we do every year, to keep the summer holiday vibe going for as long as possible...

1 January 2010

So I've done the research, thought about how I was going to approach it and here's how I intend to go about fulfilling my New Years Resolution...

Enjoy each moment... Be silly whenever possible...(see above)...Laugh lots...Nurture myself...Nuture my loved ones...Make the world a lovelier place anyway I can...

So far so good. Lots of healthy food, lots of sleeping, taking things slowly... Life is pretty awesome...

We've taken a leaf out of Amanda's book (quite literally, its in the Creative Family) and chosen a gift to the earth. This year we are doing what we can to help the animals. We'll be making our garden a garden for wildlife, helping weed and clean wildlife habitats in our local area (we have threatened penguins and bandicoots in our local area), donating food to the cat shelter, making pouches for wildlife carers looking after orphaned wildlife... Big owlet wants us to be wildlife carers someday, so we're learning about that too.

We drove to a local hill and ate ice cream, while watching the 9.30pm fireworks and a spectacular thunderstorm roll in. The huge golden moon, a blue moon, shimmered on the river while we ooh-d and ahh-d at the show. Nature won hands down. Then we ran for it as the rain poured and two little owlets made their way sleepily to bed.